Canada, Ethiopia starting talks toward investment agreement
Trudeau announces plan amid three-day trip to secure votes for UN spot
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brought the promise of an investment agreement with Ethiopia and $10 million to help empower African women to the table Saturday as he continued his bid to get African votes for Canada’s attempt to win a United Nations Security Council seat later this year.
Trudeau also spent the first full day of a three-day trip to Addis Ababa meeting with some of the African Union’s heaviest hitters in a series of tête-à-têtes on the sidelines of the union’s 33rd sessional meeting in Addis Ababa.
That included spending most of the morning with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for meetings and a private tour of a new public park and zoo on the grounds of the prime minister’s residence. The tour was notable for its length and the ease with which both leaders strolled around the grounds, though Abiy gave no hints about where he is leaning in terms of the security council vote.
Abiy did tell Trudeau Ethiopia is grateful to Canada’s support over the years.
“We Ethiopians have a deep sense of friendship to Canada,” he said.
Abiy has been named as one of the most influential leaders in Africa, including by New Africa magazine in both 2018 and 2019, and Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list of 2019. Last fall, he was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Following a private meeting with Abiy, Trudeau noted the promise of Ethiopia’s fast growing economy and said their meetings were a chance to take Canada and Ethiopia’s relationship to the next level.
However it wasn’t until after he met with Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde for a working lunch at the presidential palace that he provided some detail about what that could mean. Trudeau said Canada and Ethiopia are about to start negotiating a Foreign Investment Protection Agreement. Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng, who is in Africa with a trade delegation of Canadian companies, wouldn’t say how long those negotiations could take or what the agreement could look like. Many times these agreements take several years to put in place.
Canada and Ethiopia currently have a relatively small trading relationship — just $170 million in two-way trade in 2018. But the Ethiopian economy has exploded in the past two decades, with the gross domestic product per person soaring 189 per cent between 2000 and 2018. Addis Ababa is a city in transformation, with construction cranes and new highrise buildings all over the city’s core.
Trudeau also sat down with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Cape Verde Prime Minister Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chair of the African Union. The meetings seemed to largely discuss potential opportunities for economic growth, but climate change and gender equality also played high on the agenda.
Trudeau also revealed a $10million contribution to the African Union Commission for gender equality and women’s empowerment.